Jamie’s Ministry of Food aims to educate, empower and inspire people to love and enjoy good food, learning how to cook, understanding where it comes from and recognising the power it can have on health, happiness and finances.

The Good Foundation has partnered with Jamie Oliver and The Good Guys to build, equip and run community based Jamie’s Ministry of Food centres, both permanent and mobile, around Australia. They will deliver community education programs about cooking and nutrition to youth and adults.

Jamie’s Ministry of Food campaign is a practical solution to the problems of obesity and diet-related disease and a successful response to the lack of basic food skills in the population. By teaching people to start cooking for themselves once again and equipping them with some simple skills and knowledge, the campaign inspires and empowers change in the way they and their families eat, and how they think about food.

WHY WE ARE DOING THIS

We’re getting too fat

Health experts warn Australia is one of the most obese countries in the world per capita. Around 7 million Australians are overweight or obese*. And it’s affecting our kids, too.

Our health is suffering

We’re eating the wrong things and too much of them, so we’re not getting a balanced diet. Relying on takeaways, snacks and readymade meals doesn’t give you the right kind of nutrition for good health. We’re also more likely to develop obesity-related illnesses like heart disease, cancer and diabetes. This is the first generation in which children are predicted to die younger than their parents.

We’re forgetting how to cook

If we don’t even know the basics about food and cooking, we’re not likely to give it a try. Within a couple more generations we are at risk of completely losing our cooking skills.

Lack of facilities

There are very few facilities available to the public to learn the basics in cooking and nutrition.

FOOD CENTRES

A Ministry of Food Centre is a place where everyone aged 12 and over, regardless of gender, ethnicity or background, can learn basic cookery skills in a friendly, supportive and fun environment. Participants learn through practical hands-on cooking classes that demonstrate how easy and cheap it can be to make simple and nutritious meals from scratch.

A Jamie’s Ministry of Food Mobile Kitchen is a purpose built kitchen classroom on wheels, that can travel around to metropolitan and regional communities bringing practical cooking skills to the community.

The Mobile Kitchen program is a condensed program and offers a five-week basic cooking course comprising one 90-minute class a week. Participants can learn Jamie’s hints and shortcuts to cooking simple, nutritious and tasty meals using fresh ingredients.